B2B eCommerce revenues are expected to double this year, with 55% of B2B buyers completing at least half of their purchases online. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the world conducts business and a seamless online experience is now more important than ever. We expect to see an even larger shift away from face to face meetings to close deals with a shift towards online transactions. Here are ten features you want to ensure your B2B site is providing an optimal experience. 

A great customer experience

This is first and foremost over all other features. As you are reviewing your website, keep the customer in mind. Think of what questions they will have, what might be confusing, and if they are being driven to take action and make a purchase. You want the user experience to be as easy as possible to prevent potential customers from clicking away. 

Self-service option

Some customers know exactly what they want and can manage the entire process without interaction with a salesperson. Therefore, a B2B site should allow customers to view products and pricing, make orders, reorder, and also track the status of their purchase all the way through delivery. This can allow customers who prefer to act independently to have a seamless experience. 

Access to the sales team

While we just discussed the automation of the sales process, there are also going to be customers who would like support from the sales or customer service team. You want to find an ideal balance so that support is readily available to those who need it. This may include a live chat feature or a form the customer can fill out. 

Segmentation features

Even more than with B2C customers, B2B customers have needs that are custom to their specific situation. You should be able to group your B2B customers based on their profiles, for features such as geographical location, order volume, catalog selection, and quantity of products ordered. By segmenting customers into groups, their shopping cart experience can be customized, filtering the website content, pricing, and payment and delivery options available to them.

Customer-focused language

You want to ensure that the website copy on your site speaks directly to your customers. This means understanding the problem they are facing and drawing a clear connection to how you can solve that problem. You want to connect your product’s features with the positive outcomes they cause. 

Unique landing pages

Landing pages are special pages on your website that have only one goal, to create conversions. These pages usually share the most critical information with a call to action button to drive the user to the next step. As part of your marketing strategy, you will likely want to create different landing pages based on the campaign. This will show potential customers only the information that is most relevant to them. Being able to easily add landing pages is a really helpful site feature.

Great calls to action

Call to action buttons are the main feature that drives conversions in an inbound marketing campaign. The copy, colors, and placement of these buttons are all important in encouraging users to complete the desired action. A/B testing is a great tool to ensure your buttons are leading to the outcomes you are hoping for. 

Informative or educational content

Adding a blog to your website is a place where you can build your credibility by providing educational content related to your industry. This can also be a place to teach users more about your product and company. Additionally, this kind of content can serve as a valuable marketing tool that increases your SEO ranking. 

Mobile optimized experience

Today, more and more B2B customers are searching for business products on their phones. 94% of decision-makers agree that they begin the search for business services or products on their mobile devices. Therefore, it is imperative that the experience on mobile be seamless. One way to do this is to ensure that the sizing of your site updates across devices to fit the screen. Another example is to add an autofill feature for forms on your site that can provide a better user experience. 

Flexible payment options

For B2C companies it is important that payment is received before the product is shipped or service is rendered. However, in the B2B world, this is not always how transactions play out. Often, companies will have long-standing relationships allowing the seller to offer a line of credit to the customer. As a result, it can be helpful to offer a variety of online and offline payment methods through your website. For example, clients may be able to place an order online but pay their invoice 30 days later. 

Do you have these features on your site? Are there others we should have mentioned? Let us know on Twitter, @KuvioCreative. 

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